New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-07-17
c4rcHIyG MOLEs IN CENTRAL PARK.

now FRITZ wEGNER, THE "oLD TRAPPER.'
CATCHES THEM.
One of the curious craeters 10 c mot IN the parks
n and near New.York il tall thin old German who
Ia frequently wandering along the promcnades or
creeping through the brush and across the lawns.
The police never disturb him and he pays no atten-
ton to them. One day ne may be observed in out
ofthe-way nook in Central Park with nothing to do
apparently. and the next week he will be found In
Prospect Park or In one of the Brooklyn cemeteries
Generally he carries little handsatchel, and every
now and then he stops and takes from has pocket
sone pieces of wire. He then gets down on his knees
and teels the surface of the ground examining 1t
carefully with utter indifference TO the presence
or attention of other persont.
The man /. known Fritz Weguer, and the park
policemen call him the Old Trapper." Ills occupa
ton Ia go abont the parks catching moes and other
rodents that infest the lawns and destroy the turf
and phrnbbery Despite his solitary habits, Fritz IL
sociabe and good pcred and when not engaged in
hunting his game Is willing To talk about the manner
in which he captures small deer" Ile is gardener
by trade and to this country more than thirty
years ago. In Germany. where he learned garden
ing, he learned also to trap those little animals TO
which the gardener Is q Toe. Now he has hothouse
and conservatory in the outskirts of Brooklyn con-
Quoted mainly by his sou, while the old man passes
his time In the more congenia work OF trapping In
Central Park he receives 80 day tor his services
while employed in May or June, and in other places
he Is employed by the thousand
81 has no dog or ferret" Fritz said in TO a
question. has only di, little piece OF wire and
desc clippers 10 cut it oa Dot trap my iawen
ton 1 find der hole and den fixes hun, and Mister
Mole walks into nv trap and fixes hun Yes,
catches lew dis morning"
Fritz opened his satchel. which than half
filed with the soft urred little creatures the result OF
his morning operations.
"oh dot is not much" he added. 1t wos too late
now in der season and hat not left many. l most
pener'ly goes in before dey begins to breed and
cal ehes dem. Sometimes CONES across skunk OF
woodchnck, and takes den, too AgOt three skunks
dis spring IN Central Park Den gets some fnuskrat
and lots @ oder water rats arouDd der lakes. What
| does wild dem makes hole and buries 'em.
One time y newspaper say should sell der mole
skins So took thousand mOles down To DER man
but he says deg no goot TO Inn, 30 chnok 'em
all .i1to der river. Dem newspaper not always tell
der truth
81 How many do you catch a season :"
Sometimes twenty, sometimes thirty, forty
thousand. Dey have young ones very last over
dare In Greenwood Cemetery dey say 20 a day too
much. Then say l catch dem tor SlO thousand
at a lime all tied up in bundle. catch 10000
over dare In Green wood der first season. Now dey
say. We gu You 30 a day.
ado you ever take them alive y
"Yes Just ~ goot One dag man say to me, How
much YOU scharge to eaten some Tor my gardens
FIVE dollars say All right he says, aud take
over halt a dozen in q bag 10 his gardens Den lew
months later sape man again. tie says, Come,
take dose holes out OF my garden or my wife she Will
go crazy Dare is a tousand OF dem So go over
and take dem all out and put dem in a bag How
much you want for dot 7 he says. Ten dollars L
SAY 'All right he say, Il don't want no more dose
lnoles TO spol my garden"
Inoles he added, turning back, you schoost let me